DIY 2-liter Bottle Ecosystem Project
Don't let the title, DIY 2-Liter Bottle Ecosystem Project scare you. This activity is fun and intriguing for the home or a science project!
Servings: 1 2-Liter Bottle Ecosystem
Cost: $2
Equipment
- 1 Container to keep water overnight
- 1 Scissors or Fiskars HD Craft Knife
Ingredients
- 1 2-Liter Bottle (like for soda, clear is best- recycle if possible)
- 1 package Rock for a fish tank (called Aquarium Gravel or other small, clean rocks)
- 1 Goldfish (or Beta fish)
- Fish Food
- 1 Plant- like a philodendron or violet or an herb
- 1 small bag Potting Mix Soil
- 2 Coffee Filters
- Cording or String
Instructions
- The day before you make your DIY 2-Liter Bottle Ecosystem Project, fill a container with water. Let it sit overnight until you use it to fill your bottle. The water needs to sit so that it is room temperature and dechlorinated, ready for the fish.
- Grab a 2-Liter bottle out of your recycling bin. Wash and clean it out well.
- Cut the bottle off about ⅓ of the way down, right before the curve on the neck of the bottle. Trim the edges of the bottle so there are no jagged edges that may scratch you.
- In the larger bottom section of the 2-Liter bottle, cut a small hole 1 inch down from the top edge to use to feed the fish. This doesn’t need to be a very big hole, just large enough to put a couple flakes of fish food through.
- Place decorative fish rock (Aquarium Gravel) or other clean rocks in the bottom of the base. This rock layer was about 1.5 inches thick.
- Add the room temperature water from your container that has been sitting overnight and fill the base to about ¾th full.
- Gently transfer your fish into the base of the 2-Liter bottle.
- Take the pop bottle lid off and put two Coffee Filters in the top section of the 2-Liter bottle.
- Use a piece of 10 inch long cotton cord or heavy String. Tie a knot in the cord. Pull the cord down through the bottom of the filters and through the opening of the bottle. Coil the top end of the cord so it stays put in the top section of the bottle.
- Carefully remove your plant(s) from their container and place in the top section of the 2-Liter bottle. Add extra Potting Mix Soil to this section so the soil and plant is almost to the top.
- Place the top section onto the base section with the bottom of the cord dipping into the water.
Notes
I wanted my top section of the 2-Liter bottle to sit higher up so I cut four small x shaped holes equal distance around the neck of the bottle. I used two wooden skewers to poke through these holes and then broke off the sharp ends of the skewers. This propped and balanced the top section up a couple inches higher. This step is optional. The top section can sit directly down on the bottom section.